The Spot: Heidi Ganahl all but says she’s running for governor

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Heidi Ganahl, University of Colorado regent and the lone Republican near holding a statewide bureau successful Colorado, has said she’s considering a tally astatine Gov. Jared Polis adjacent year. This week she penned a column making the lawsuit against his reelection.

It’s beauteous on-the-nose for a gubernatorial hopeful, and it’s casual to spot her repeating the column’s talking points connected the stump. All that’s missing from her tweet teasing it is an existent announcement.

Republicans are banking connected the humanities inclination that says the enactment retired of powerfulness does good successful the midterms, but beating Polis volition beryllium difficult. Don’t conscionable instrumentality my connection for it — Ganahl called it a “moonshot” erstwhile I spoke with her respective weeks ago.

Why? Democrats present clasp a registration advantage that seasoned consultants estimation hands them a starting vantage of 5-10 percent points — meaning they don’t request spectacular candidates to win. It helps Polis’ lawsuit that he’s rather popular, polling good supra h2o passim the full pandemic.

Then there’s the substance of his money. Whatever you spend, you tin beryllium definite he’ll person more. He’s worthy hundreds of millions, and from the commencement of his governmental vocation helium has spent extravagantly: At 25 years old, helium dropped $1.2 million connected a authorities Board of Education spot — 120 times what his hostile spent.

I caught up this week with the seat of the authorities GOP seat Kristi Burton Brown, to speech astir the 2022 predetermination aft she and different enactment leaders touted their platform astatine a Denver state station.

“It’s precise unfortunate that Coloradans unrecorded successful a authorities wherever their politician buys his seat. He shouldn’t get to beryllium successful that spot due to the fact that helium has much money,” she said.

She sounded excited astir her party’s chances successful the 4 large statewide contests — governor, lawyer general, caput of authorities and treasurer — each of which diagnostic a Democratic incumbent. (It’s the occupation of immoderate enactment seat to task confidence.)

More revealing were the remarks from authorities Sen. John Cooke successful a caller speech vigor treatment astir whether Polis tin beryllium bushed (originally reported by wide blog Colorado Pols).

“You know, I would similar to accidental yes, but no, I don’t deliberation helium tin astatine this point,” Cooke said. “(M)oney runs campaigns. And one, we request to person a bully candidate, and it’s truly getting precocious successful the season.”

About that: Burton Brown said the GOP’s top-of-the-ticket candidates volition denote arsenic soon arsenic this summertime and arsenic precocious arsenic the spring.

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Capitol Diary

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Federal authorities • By Justin Wingerter

The Senate’s tiny measurement connected pot

Stashed distant successful the infrastructure measure that the U.S. Senate passed Tuesday is simply a request that 3 national departments fig retired however to get high-quality cannabis to scientists.

An amendment introduced by Colorado U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper requires the Transportation Department, Health and Human Services and the Justice Department to people a program successful 2 years for letting researchers who are studying marijuana-impaired driving get their hands connected the cannabis that Americans bargain astatine dispensaries. Currently, researchers tin lone usage government-grown weed.

If the infrastructure measure becomes instrumentality (it faces a bumpy roadworthy successful the House first), it besides calls for a program to beryllium drawn up for creating a nationalist clearinghouse of cannabis. Strains would beryllium collected and distributed, truthful researchers successful states wherever it’s amerciable could get the beardown stuff. For science.

“Colorado led the mode connected marijuana legalization,” Hickenlooper said successful a connection past period (that didn’t notation he opposed legalizing). “The national authorities needs to drawback up by lifting outdated restrictions connected the technological survey of cannabis truthful we tin forestall driving portion high.”

Read much astir what Congress’ elephantine infrastructure measure means for Colorado.

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Colorado’s Ken Salazar was confirmed arsenic U.S. ambassador to Mexico.
The feds are sending implicit a speedy $11.6 million for cleanup connected Interstate 70 successful Glenwood Canyon.
Former Olympian Eli Bremer will situation U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet successful 2022.
Karen Breslin, a Democratic lawyer and assemblage instructor from Elizabeth, volition too.
Dominion Voting Systems has sued right-wing media for defamation — again.

Mile High Politics • By Conrad Swanson

Lucky No. 13?

For 50 years, Denver’s had 11 metropolis assembly seats representing circumstantial districts with well-defined borders and 2 at-large seats representing the full city.

The improbable brace of Candi CdeBaca and Kevin Flynn privation to propulsion retired the at-large seats and redraw bound lines crossed the full metropolis truthful determination are 13 assembly members representing 13 districts.

It’s a contentious determination and 1 that hardly passed the council’s Finance and Governance Committee connected Tuesday connected a 4-3 vote. The connection volition caput to the afloat assembly aboriginal this period for a determination connected whether to enactment it up to a ballot connected the city’s November ballot.

Flynn, who’s been connected assembly since 2015, said the metropolis structured the assembly that mode backmost successful 1971 — the epoch of belted turtlenecks and flared jeans, erstwhile the state was inactive mired successful the Vietnam War and Three Dog Night, Carole King and the Bee Gees topped the charts.

CdeBaca believes the archetypal motive was to soundlessness minorities successful the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement. And adding 2 much districts to the assembly would mean much area-specific — and truthful equitable — practice for Denverites connected the council, she said.

Council members who correspond a territory tin instrumentality connected citywide issues anyway, CdeBaca said, pointing to Kendra Black’s plastic container fee oregon Stacie Gilmore’s long-term rental license law.

Plus, Flynn added, at-large assembly members are elected differently. The 2 candidates with the astir votes successful the races win. He said a erstwhile at-large councilwoman erstwhile recommended that helium tally for an at-large spot due to the fact that he’d “only person to decorativeness 2nd to win.”

But the council’s existing at-large members — Robin Kniech and Debbie Ortega — oppose the changes, saying the determination would mean little practice for Denverites due to the fact that everyone who lives successful Denver, nary substance the district, has 2 different assembly people.

Ortega besides said during Tuesday’s committee gathering that the displacement could wounded chap assembly members who mightiness request an ally, peculiarly nether Denver’s strong-mayor signifier of government.

“When you’re trying to get an contented funded, it’s not arsenic casual to get it done if it’s conscionable each territory idiosyncratic trying to combat for those issues connected their own,” Ortega said.

Either mode the contented won’t impact Kniech oregon Ortega, some are term-limited and can’t tally again.

More Denver metro news

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Aurora’s metropolis assembly turned down a camping ban, but volition person to ballot again aboriginal this month.
Two of Denver’s 7 stretches of shared streets volition erstwhile again open up to cars.
New Denver Public Schools superintendent Alex Marrero discussed disguise mandates, vaccine requirements and learning gaps.
School disguise guidelines garner criticisms from doctors who privation them and parents who don’t. Check retired the concern successful your territory here.